Implicancias en la política pública GES

Philosophy is „a system of philosophical concepts, a theory underlying or regarding a sphere of activity or thought, the most basic beliefs/concepts/attitudes of an individual or group‟ (Philosophy, 2010). According to Bassey (1990) a research philosophy paradigm is a network of coherent ideas about the nature of the world

24 and of the functions of the researcher; it conditions their way of thinking and underpins their research actions. It is a framework that guides how research should be conducted based on people‟s philosophies and their assumptions about the world and the nature of knowledge (Collis & Hussey, 2009).

There are two main philosophical paradigms: Positivism and interpretivism (Collis & Hussey, 2009). Bassey (1990) describes the way that positivist and interpretivist researchers view the world. Positivist researchers believe that there is a reality in the world that exists irrespective of people; the reality is discovered by people using their own senses and observing. Interpretivist researchers cannot accept the idea of there being a reality which exists irrespective of people because reality is a construct of the human mind; people perceive and construe the world in ways which are often similar but not the same.

2.4.1.1 Positivism

Positivism provides a framework for research in the natural sciences discipline. It is underpinned by the belief that reality is independent of us and its goal is to discover theories based on empirical research (Collis & Hussey, 2009). Positivist research is usually quantitative in nature as it uses theories, experiments and statistical analysis to answer the research questions. These methods usually produce numerical data which is then used to prove or disprove a theory.

Positivistic researchers are objective, they do not regard themselves as important variables in their research and consequently, when testing a hypothesis they expect other researchers to come to the same conclusion that they have (Bassey, 1990). Positivistic researchers seek rigorous, exact measures and objective research and they test hypotheses by carefully analysing numbers from the measures (Neuman, 2006).

There are a few criticisms about positivism that Collis and Hussey (2009) point out:

25 - People cannot be understood without examining the perceptions they have of

their own activities;

- Researchers are not objective but part of what they observe; and - Capturing complex phenomena in a single measure is misleading.

2.4.1.2 Interpretivism

Interpretivism developed to address the afore-mentioned criticisms of positivism. It is underpinned by the belief that social reality is subjective because it is shaped by the researcher‟s thoughts and perceptions (Collis & Hussey, 2009). Interpretive researchers usually use observations and field research as data collection methods, and consequently this philosophy is regarded as qualitative in nature. These methods require the researcher to be in direct contact with the people he is studying. Neuman (2006) defines the interpretive approach as “a systematic analysis of socially meaningful action through the direct detailed observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings and interpretations of how people create and maintain their social world”. Table 2.1 illustrates a comparison between positivism and interpretivism.

Positivism Interpretivism View of the world There is a reality that the

world exists and that all the elements of the world including people will follow the rules of the world

Reality is a construct of the human mind, therefore has to have people to exist.

Role of the researcher

Do not regard themselves as part of the research. They are objective researchers.

Regard themselves as part of the research, as they are part of the world being observed.

Purpose of research Describe and understand the phenomena of the world and to share this with

Describe and interpret the phenomena of the world in attempts to get shared

26 others. By understanding,

one can explain and predict the phenomena.

meaning with others. It offers possibilities not certainties of future events.

Positivism Interpretivisim Data,

Instruments, Method used

Qualitative data can be used for positivist or interpretivist research as is also the case with quantitative data.

Data: Numerical data, verbal, non-numerical

Instruments: statistical analysis, surveys, experiments, observations, interviews, case studies etc.

Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative.

Table 2.1. Comparison between Positivism and Interpretivism (Summarized from (Bassey, 1990)).

2.4.1.3 Research Philosophy for this study

In this research study, the interpretive research philosophy was applicable. An interpretive philosophy allows the researcher to have direct and meaningful interaction with the participants in their natural setting to better understand their views of the world (Bassey, 1990). It focuses on context and takes place in the natural setting of the participants instead of in a laboratory (Marshall & Rossman, 2010). In this research, the researcher was involved with observing the health workers as they carried out their daily activities in a home community based care environment. The researcher was able to be part of the health care workers‟ environment while they visited patients who gave consent so that the researcher could document their work and better understand the socio-technical factors affecting them. By being part of the health care workers‟ environment allowed the researcher to be subjective due to their level of involvement in the research. The data that was produced through the fieldwork was qualitative.

27